Chalk up another casualty of the Central Oregon real estate bust and the Bush recession: A grandiose water park planned for Redmond has been put on hold.
When the idea was first proposed in January 2007, The Bulletin (sorry, subscription needed) reported that the park and “upscale” hotel complex (what isn’t “upscale” around here these days?) “has the potential to become a tourism catalyst for the city and provide up to 90 full- and part-time jobs.”
The first phase of what was then called the “Redmond Indoor Water Park & Hotel” was going to include a 200- to 400-room hotel and an indoor water park with a “Western frontier theme and décor,” whatever that meant. Construction was supposed to start in late summer of 2007 and the first phase completed in a year to 18 months.
But the developers, including Bill Schertzinger, Greg Hodecker and Jim Stirewalt of Redmond and a fourth man from Wisconsin, haven’t broken ground yet. And The Bulletin reports this morning that it will be at least another three to four years before the park opens.
Hodecker blamed the tight credit situation for the partners’ inability to get financing. “Right now, going to market with funding and the economy, it’s a little tougher now than it was two years ago,” he was quoted.
Redmond has extended the deadline for construction to 2012, which Community Development Director Jim Hendryx said was a more “realistic” date. Don’t bet on it, Jim.
A domed water park in Redmond? Well, weirder ideas surfaced during the Great Bend Bubble. The Shire, for instance.
This article appears in Aug 28 – Sep 3, 2008.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
way to get your pinko-liberal jab in at Prez Bush. He’s not perfect, but He’s not responsible for the economy, either, you dip-****.
Get a clue from your fetish with I assume would be our Euro socialist friends… you want their economy??? You’re so ignorant it’s sad.
The President doesn’t control the economic situation in our country. The consumers do. We consume more than we can pay for. That is the president’s fault? I don’t care if it’s Clinton, Bush, or Lincoln–the economy belongs to you, me and all of us. We control it. We could change the price of oil if we really wanted to. We could change alot of things if we really wanted to. Instead most folks are like you and simply criticize and blame rather than bring real change. You Obama butt-kissing loser.
Are you honestly blaming Bush for the recession? You must be serious? The real estate bust is driving the recession. I am not sure what cracker jack box you got your economic training in but “greed” drove the real estate bust which has fueled the economic bust you blame on Bush?
The sub-prime crisis didn’t happen because Americans suddenly became more “greedy” than they were before. Republican policies of deregulation of the mortgage lending industry created the conditions that encouraged the bubble and subsequent bust to happen.
I seem to recall Republicans talking loudly about the “Clinton recession” that happened early in Bush’s first term.
I also recall Republicans a couple of years ago pointing to the “high rate of home ownership” as evidence of how healthy the “Bush economy” was. Funny thing, we don’t hear that anymore.
Republicans want to take credit when times are good but dodge the blame when times are bad.
As Obama says, you people must be made to own your failures.
Please limit your debate to the subject matter discussed in the preceding article. Refrain from trollish behavior such as personal attacks, obscenity, and denigrating slights. While the The Source Weekly encourages user comments on news stories, these comments are the personal opinions of the individuals posting them and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Source Weekly. We do not solicit, or moderate user comments, and reserve the right to remove postings as we see fit.
What??? I thought you are all about FREE SPEACH.